Okay, Ubisoft? Activision? EA? You're all here? Good, take a seat. I've called you to this post to explain the purpose of a "launch trailer". It's designed to accompany the launch of a game. Not to crop up two weeks before launch , and definitely not when you're over a month away from that launch. Oh well, given that it's here, I guess we'll show you Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag's launch trailer. It's unique among today's AAA video previews, in that only about three things explode.

As with almost all games containing the Ubisoft logo, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag's PC version will be trailing behind the console. Our goods won't be offloaded until November 22nd. While you wait, you can read about Craig Owens' attempt to tame the high seas, when he went hands-on with the game earlier in the year.